Thoughts on books, reading and publishing from the staff and friends of the Tattered Cover Book Store.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Meet Our New VIB from Debut Author Nickolas Butler

Welcome to Little Wing.

It’s a place like hundreds of others, nothing special, really. But for four friends—all born and raised in this small Wisconsin town—it is home. And now they are men, coming into their own, or struggling to do so.

One of them never left, still working the family farm that has been tilled for generations. But others felt the need to move on, with varying degrees of success. One trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit, and one of them even hit it big as a rock star. And then there’s Beth, a woman who has meant something special in each of their lives.

Now all four are brought together for a wedding. Little Wing seems even smaller than before. While lifelong bonds are still strong, there are stresses—between the friends, between husbands and wives. There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of adult friendship and love.

Seldom has the American heartland been so richly and accurately portrayed. Though the town may have changed, the one thing that hasn’t is the beauty of the Wisconsin farmland, the lure of which, in Nickolas Butler’s hands, emerges as a vibrant character in the story. Shotgun Lovesongs is that rare work of fiction that evokes a specific time and place yet movingly describes the universal human condition. It is, in short, a truly remarkable book—a novel that once read will never be forgotten.

"I love debut authors because I want to hear the new voices and find the
rock stars before they even play their first real gig. Which is why I
am so excited about Shotgun Lovesong—Nickolas Butler is going to be one of
those rock stars. This book is about a group of friends, ten or so
years after they graduated from high school. There is literally a rock
star in the bunch, as well as a famous rodeo guy who got hit by one too
many bulls (and bottles), a married couple with small children and a big
farm to worry about, and a wheeler-dealer commodities guy who is
collapsing under the weight of his facade. They are closer than close,
yet everyone has a secret side that the others don't know about. All of
them feel lonely in some way, and yet they know that they all can rely
on the others. I fell in love with every one of them. I didn't want
the book to end—I wanted to go to dinner with them, or go dancing with
the whole town down at the mill. But mostly, I want this new writer to
keep writing. And I want you all to read this first one—I'm betting
you'll be just as hungry as I am for more."

Every now and then we encounter a new book that we’re so
excited about we want to shout it from the rooftops, so we've created a
special tag to distinguish it from the rest: TC VIB (very impressive book)! That means it’s a true stand-out in a season of many excellent and compelling new books.